911 call released in 1-4 shooting: 'Please hurry, I've been shot in the face.'
A Tennessee man who was shot on Interstate 4 near Deltona Wednesday night said he was driving in the left lane when a pickup truck came up behind him, according to a 911 call.
“We were just going fast. He just come up behind me and then I moved around. I just heard a big kaboom and I seen blood go everywhere,” the man said on the 911 call. He then added, “Please hurry.”
The caller, a 61-year-old man, was driving eastbound on I-4 in a Mercedes Benz with his 19-year-old son as a passenger. About 8:47 p.m. either a sport utility vehicle or pickup truck drove up behind them and started flashing its high beams, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Tennessee driver moved into the center lane. The other vehicle then passed, but someone inside fired a shot at the Mercedes Benz, the FHP stated. The vehicle then drove off.
The bullet blasted through the driver’s window, striking him and his son, the FHP stated. Both men were taken to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
They had been heading home after visiting Orlando. The 61-year-old is from Gray, Tennessee, while his son is from Jonesborough.
The call begins with the 911 call taker asking him for the address of the emergency.
“I don't know. But I've just been shot. I'm on the side of this road. A driver shot me in the face. I need help immediately. I'm on Interstate 4 ... but I'm pouring the blood out."
“Please hurry I’ve been shot in the face,” he adds.
He says he is parked on the right shoulder of the interstate.
The call taker asked where the other vehicle went.
"Oh, I don't know. They took off. They just shot me right in my face, shot through my window, shot my boy. Oh my God. Please hurry.”
He said the vehicle was a black pickup truck.
The man says he thinks he might pass out. He asked his son to get a towel out of the trunk.
The call taker asked whether the other vehicle continued eastbound.
“Yes, yes, it shot me. And I didn't get of his way fast enough. I moved over and it pulled up beside me, shot through my window and hit me in the face. And kept going," the driver said.
He said the bullet went through his chin.
The call taker instructs him to use something to apply pressure to the wound.
She asked him if it was a road rage incident or whether he knew the person. He said no and described the incident again.
He said he did not know what the shooter looked like. "I don’t know. It was dark," he said.
He said he did not know what kind of firearm was used.
She asked if his son was hurt.
“He’s got blood on his face," he said adding that he did not believe he was shot.
The man said law enforcement had arrived and he was going to hang up.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing and troopers are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call FHP at 407-737-2213 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Man in I-4 shooting tells dispatcher he saw 'blood go everywhere'
